Darkness Rages
by Sirithiliel
Summary: Okay! I changed the story a bit from when I last put it up. While in Hollin, the Hobbits ask LEgolas to tell them a tale. I'm sick at home, so this was a one shot just to relieve boredom!


Disclaimer: Nothing that resembles a character, place, or a passage from a book or movie is mine.  
  
Okay, I am home sick and decided to do something. Here we go, a one shot vignette!  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Sitting in Hollin, the Fellowship were preparing for the day. It was near afternoon, and this was the best spot they were likely to find for the night.  
  
Boromir and Aragorn left to gather wood, Gandalf settled down for a nap, saying an old man needs his rest, while the remaining six settled down on the large rocks in the area, content with the prolonged rest.  
  
Sam sat near Frodo, watching him with concerned eyes. But contrary to his worries, the young Hobbit was actually doing well and in high spirits. Merry and Pippin were discussing the finer points of cooking sausage, which was what was planned for their lunch. Legolas, an Elf of Mirkwood, perched up higher, on a smoother rock, and Gimli the Dwarf sharpened his axe.  
  
Sam ceased staring at Frodo, and turned his attention to the stoic Elf above them. The Elven Prince's fair, chiseled features, his tall, lithe graceful body, his skill and talent, all enchanted the young gardener. Elves had always fascinated him; in Rivendell they had told him stories about their kind. But Mirkwood Elves were different in an indescribable way. Just the feeling about them is different, the way they moved.  
  
As Sam sat and brooded on the Elf stories Bilbo had told him many times in the Shire, Sam recalled something.  
  
"Legolas?" He called softly. With his keen hearing, the Elf turned his head towards the hobbit.  
  
"Yes?" He asked, narrowing his deep blue eyes curiously. He had rarely spoken to any of the fellowship other than Aragorn and Gandalf. He had traded insults with the Dwarf, greetings with the hobbits and the man from Gondor, but other than that, nothing had passed between him and anyone else.  
  
"Um, Mr. Legolas, sir, I...I was wondering, Mr. Bilbo had told me stories, back in the Shire, you know. He had mentioned wargs and since you live in Mirkwood, have you seen one?" Sam stuttered at the beginning, before gaining courage and continuing.  
  
The other Hobbits looked up curiously as well, for the Elf rarely spoke and never told tales.  
  
"Humph!"  
  
The five looked over at the source of the sound. Gimli sat there, glaring at them.  
  
"Aye, Elf! Have you ever fought such a beast, or were you holed up in the palace?" He growled, fingering his axe's newly sharpened blade.  
  
Legolas' eyes narrowed, this time not in curiosity, but in anger. He stood, sliding down the rock and smoothly landing upon his feet onto the ground before the shorter being. His eyes were cold, cold and steely, like chips of dark sapphires in a winter night.  
  
"I shall tell you, Master Sam, about my dealings with such beasts." He stated, ignoring the dwarf and speaking to Sam. But he glared at Gimli as he spoke.  
  
Pippin glanced over at Gandalf, who still slumbered, and felt relieved at how the wizard would be there if trouble started between the Elf and Dwarf. He was excited though. He had yet heard the Elf speak for any length of time, and the story sounded interesting. Merry and Frodo and Pippin were of like minds, and they moved to more comfortable spaces to listen. Gimli gave another "humph" and sat down as well, wanting to hear this.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
(Author's Note: Okay, I'm not good writing in first person, so I'm going to write it from a third person point of view.)  
  
Aragorn slipped through the forests. Orcs were reported in the area, and the ranger had gone out to see if the reports were true.  
  
His friend, Legolas of Mirkwood, was here as well, but currently searching elsewhere.  
  
Aragorn halted as he came upon a clear print of an orc. The heavy boots that orcs wore always left such nice prints upon the ground. Aragorn straightened and followed the trail.  
  
A couple of yards away, passing through the trees with no more noise than the wind, Legolas was also following a trail. He had orc prints, but also something else.  
  
The tracks resembled wolves, but were by far too large to be a wolf. And it was obvious that the creature was with the orcs.  
  
Aragorn halted, his eyes scanning the clear land around him, then the dark forms of the trees farther to the side. Something was telling him that he was being watched. With a shrug, he resolved to continue but be wary.  
  
Legolas also had the feeling, but he saw what it was before Aragorn. Farther up the slope from the human, a band of orcs was crouched, though there was no sign of the large creature that had left the prints with the orc trail.  
  
Either way, his friend was in danger. With a warning shout to Aragorn, Legolas swung his bow off his back and nocked it quickly with an arrow from his quiver. Just as quickly, he released the arrow and sent it soaring into one of the orcs. The dark creature dropped, and Legolas sighed with relief as Aragorn drew his sword and turned to meet them.  
  
From his vantage point in the trees, Legolas could pick them off one by one and Aragorn could deal with the rest. There was after all not that many.  
  
Drawing his string back to deliver another arrow, Legolas was suddenly hit by a large force and buried beneath his attacker.  
  
Heavy fur muffled his cry of surprise, and his bow was ripped from his hands. His breath was knocked from him, and he gasped as he struggled to get free.  
  
He shoved with all his might, twisting below the creature until he was able to get his legs up and deliver a mighty kick that knocked the creature back.  
  
The Elf stumbled to his feet, and blinked as he saw a large wolf growling at him. Nay, not a wolf, the muzzle was not as long, the teeth far too large, the ears were too far back and the forelegs were longer than the back, giving it a sloped look. Some new beast the orcs had come up with, Legolas guessed.  
  
What worried the Elf was that the creature held his bow in its mouth, teeth sunk deep within the hard wood.  
  
Legolas would later discover it was a warg, but at the moment he was worried for his own safety. Drawing his twin long knives, he circled around the warg.  
  
The beast growled again, a deep throaty sound that sent an involuntary shiver through the Elf. With a massive snap, it crushed Legolas' hard wood bow easily and spat out the pieces, before circling as well.  
  
Legolas launched a quick blow at the creature, but the heavy fur repelled the blade, and Legolas jumped back as the warg jerked around to snap where his arm had been.  
  
So intent on his battle, Legolas forgot about Aragorn for a moment.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Aragorn had seen the arrow come and strike one of the orcs, leading his gaze to their hiding place. He drew his sword, and waited for them to come. He expected more arrows to rain death upon the orcs, for so was the skill of his companion, but no more came.  
  
That worried the ranger, and he hesitated and glanced up to the copse of trees where his friend had been. No movement could be seen, but that may be because he was further back in the trees or was standing very still.  
  
Or was hurt or dead.  
  
Shoving that thought to the back of his mind, Aragorn brought his sword up and stabbed it through one of the orcs that were charging him.  
  
Another orc behind that one launched a spear, and Aragorn dodged it. He cried out as it nicked his arm, and the orcs charged forwards with howls of glee.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Legolas dodged again as the wolf lunged, teeth snapping with a metallic sound as it bit air trying to catch the slender Elf.  
  
The warg was smart, though, and figured out that it could not catch the agile warrior. If it got the Elf on the ground, it could use its superior strength to crush and bite its opponent. Legolas figured this out, and made sure not to let the warg get close by him or far enough away that it could leap at him again.  
  
He struck repeatedly at the heavy fur, failing each time to strike flesh in a serious wound. The warg, each time the Elf closed in to attack, would spin around and snap, getting close to Legolas to back him off. One of these times, he was not going to manage to get out of the way in time.  
  
Legolas heard the clang of battle down below him, and shot a quick glance over his shoulder to see Aragorn in the process of fighting off orcs.  
  
Way too many orcs for him to deal with alone.  
  
That one glance had distracted him long enough for the warg to leap forwards with a snarl, bearing its smaller opponent to the ground. Once again his breath was driven from him by the warg's heavy weight. Legolas twisted desperately, but the warg had learned from before and was being sure to keep the Elf pinned.  
  
Growling low in its throat, it snapped its maw down, and Legolas, in desperation, shoved his blade up.  
  
Teeth closed upon steel, screeching in a way that hurt the Elf's sensitive ears. He lashed out with his other blade, but only struck the thick fur around its neck.  
  
The warg, the wicked intelligence in its eyes flickering triumphantly, lashed out with its fore paws.  
  
The large claws upon them tore through Legolas' leather hunting tunic and into his flesh.  
  
Biting back the cry of pain, for fear of alerting any nearby orcs, Legolas lashed out once more with his long knife. This time he scored. The orc had displayed its chest when it clawed him, and his blade had nicked its coarse underbelly.  
  
With a howl of rage, since the wound was minor and only irritating, the warg leaped away, growling angrily, and circled in once more before the Elf regained his feet or his breath from the removal of the warg's heavy weight.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Aragorn fought to keep his feet as orc after orc charged forwards to attack him. He barely got the parries up in time, and the orcs had formed a ring around him and were attacking him simultaneously.  
  
Where was Legolas?  
  
~*~*~*  
  
With a howl of glee, the warg leaped and Legolas brought his blade up desperately. The warg turned aside, avoiding impaling itself, and the blade sunk into its ribs in a way that should have been fatal.  
  
But, as Legolas found out, wargs had thick, compact rib cages, and it was not totally fatal unless you struck them just right. They were not as protected from spears or arrows, something coming at a high speed with strength behind it.  
  
Growling, Legolas jerked his blade out and stabbed again.  
  
The warg howled and its cry filled with pain. It jerked and collapsed, and the prone Elf on the ground stared.  
  
Standing, he leaned over to see how he had managed to fell the beast.  
  
Incidentally, but pure luck, he had scored a hit just above the eye, effectively killing it.  
  
Hurriedly, leaving his ruined bow, he grabbed his twin knives and ran towards the battle below where Aragorn was slowly losing ground to the orcs.  
  
Aragorn sighed with relief as he saw Legolas come loping down from the trees, and the orcs howled in rage at the sight of a hated Elf.  
  
Legolas threw himself into the fray, and with both of them attacking, it was a quick battle.  
  
Aragorn soon was examining the Elf's wounds, as Legolas informed him of what had transpired up in the forest.  
  
"A fierce beast," the ranger commented. Legolas nodded agreement.  
  
"We should tell Lord Elrond, for if orcs are beginning to travel with such creatures, we must warn any warriors going out." Legolas said. Mirkwood had its share of wolves, but wargs were something he had never seen as of yet.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Legolas finished the story. The hobbits were wide eyed, considering the story, and Gimli was intrigued as well.  
  
"Not a long story, and certainly not a truly exciting one." Legolas said, but the hobbits shook their heads.  
  
"Not long, true. But exciting? That it was!" Merry said, grinning. Gimli huffed, but offered no insult. Standing, he left.  
  
"Was that to your liking, Master Samwise?" Legolas asked, for the hobbit was sitting, musing thoughts over in his head.  
  
"What? Oh, yes. I really liked it, thank you. So, Strider had been there as well?" The young garner asked, glancing towards were the two humans were just returning with wood.  
  
"Yes, he was. As I recall, he had taken a nasty wound. This was when he was no more than a youth, you should understand." Legolas said, glancing as well at Aragorn, and smiling as memories came to him.  
  
"So did wargs really begin to travel with the orcs?" Pippin asked eagerly.  
  
Legolas nodded. "Yes, they did. And as it ends up, wargs were in Mirkwood for a long time too, and I had had dealings with them before, but had thought them wolves. I was naught but a child, then." Legolas said, smiling at the excitement in the four hobbits' eyes.  
  
"Really? So this was not your first experience with them?" Frodo asked, and Legolas nodded.  
  
"That will be a story for later. But yes, I had fought wargs before. Being young, I had not realized the difference between them and wolves." Legolas answered.  
  
Gimli, sitting over on a rock farther away, shook his head. In truth, he had enjoyed the story, but refused to say it. As it were, he could not bring himself to insult the Elf at that moment.  
  
Legolas ignored the dwarf, figuring his lack of comment was for his lack of interest.  
  
The hobbits had gotten up and were crowding over around Aragorn, requesting details to the story. As much as Aragorn was fond of the hobbits, having the four pressuring him at the moment was not what he had needed.  
  
Shooting a annoyed glance at the laughing Elf, he fended off the hobbits' questions.  
  
With a broad grin, Legolas leaned back and watched the fun. Boromir saved Aragorn then, by asking if the hobbits would care to learn the basics of knife skills.  
  
Merry and Pippin jumped at the opportunity, and Frodo and Sam declined but agreed to watch.  
  
Gandalf awoke a while later, and Sam started their sausages. While they ate, they watched Boromir and the two hobbits.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Forgive me if it seems bad, remember I'm sick and this was just to relieve boredom! Tell me if you like! 


End file.
